Having not picked up her own plate just yet, Natsumi was easily able to stand back up and fetch the tea that Naota gleefully accepted. She took the kettle from the fire pit's grill after walking over toward it, and set said container down on the nearest, okenite log. With nimble hands, she then retrieved a pinch of herbs from one pocket and a simple infuser from another. She combined these two items into one before placing them both inside an empty pewter cup sitting on a stone edifice next to the fire. Finally, she finished off the concoction by pouring some hot water from the still steaming kettle.
 
"Beware the temperature," Natsumi said as she handed this scalding beverage to her guest. She didn't feel the need to elaborate beyond that simple warning, as she was most interested in getting her own tea to go with dinner. This intention was made obvious when the Ice Queen quickly repeated the same sequence of steps she had used for Naota's drink, though she did add a little something extra into her infuser. The smell was obvious even to a human, for few would mistake the potent aroma of ginger.
 
Her special brew would seem odd to some – and maybe even vulgar to classical tea enthusiasts from Nisshoki – but it was something that the Ataiyan had been making since her childhood. She loved the taste of ginger, even in cases where others said the flavor would ruin the overall appeal of a dish. Her excuse to said people had always been that she had no intention of being a great cook, and she stuck by that excuse even now that she no longer had family chefs to fall back upon.
 
Regardless of her strange tastes, though, Natsumi remained a respectful conversationalist. With her ginger-ginseng tea in hand, she resumed her seat, took a sip, and ended Naota's brief anticipation for information.
 
"I rarely ever saw the outside of my family's primary estate," she said, "but we certainly had several dozen homes at least; most of which belonged to secondary branches of the main family." There were many noble families in Nisshoki, but few could claim extravagant wealth like Natsumi was describing. Two houses, as Naota's family possessed, was a common number among "intermediate" nobles, and typically respectable. Several dozen, on the other hand, was quite rare, so there was reason to assume that the vampire hunter would recognize the name that his host was about to reference."If you lived in the central district," she continued, "you undoubtedly heard of the Yamauchi Clan. Our family is one of the older names in Ataiyo, though oddly one that has historically rejected the notion of governmental power. Had our ancestors possessed the ambition to be on the council, we might have already had a representative on there or a descendant next in line; but it has been the Yamauchi policy for centuries to remain neutral when possible. Makes sense, considering the meaning of the name. The winds of time can change the face of a mountain, but the underlying structure remains resolute, no?"
 
This final comment by Natsumi was in reference to the fact that "Yamauchi" meant "in the mountains," something that Natsumi had only appreciated the symbolism of as she got older. Mountains meant strength, which her family most certainly possessed, but they also meant stubbornness to a fault. Inflexibility had been what drove the 7th child away from her home, so the name was very appropriate given her experiences with family.
 
Perhaps, however, this analogy was lost on Saya. Despite the fact that the young child had adopted Natsumi's name, it never really fit her. Saya was strong in her own way, but not like a mountain. She was no stone colossus, no sentinel; especially not since she had trouble just staying awake throughout the entire day. The fact that she fell asleep after finishing her lunch was evidence enough of that.
 

"Saya" Natsumi had asked when she realized that her daughter's breathing had slowing following her midday meal? The Ice Queen walked over to the girl to investigate, only to grunt in amusement when she saw her still sitting up but with her eyes closed. "She's asleep right after lunch. She wanted to come to work with me today because she wanted to learn more about magic, and then she falls asleep. Silly girl."

His head dipped down respectfully in thanks as he took the offered cup, careful to only barely rest it on his palm whilst his fingers held the rim.  The smells of home wafted up and he slowly inhaled, feeling his shoulders comfortably lower in relaxation.  He watched as the water slowly changed in color from the leeching out of juices from the herbs, and the swirling designs it made only reminded him of his time back at home all the more.  There were times where he missed it terribly, but he knew he wouldn’t keep residence there.  Not for a long time at least, and quite possibly in a different part of Ataiyo or even the continent all together.

His eyebrows rose when she spoke of her home.  Having that many places of residence seemed like a bit much to him, but then most of his family usually didn’t live long enough to branch out from the estates that they did have.  Not that would have anyways, even if the funds were there, currency wasn’t exactly their goal with nobility, more so it was the connections that it brought them in being able to fulfill their duties.  For all he knew there were others of their family that were more spread out and nomadic, after all that’s exactly what his own life was like now, it wouldn’t have been surprising.  Even though they had their two estates in Ataiyo, they were hardly ever there.

The Yamauchi Clan however, that was a name that you could not go without knowing.  And while he didn’t know much about them personally, he’d grown up knowing that the very name was almost synonymous with wealth, which made it much easier to understand why her family had so many homes.  

Neutrality.  It was a notion he had thought on often.  For himself he wasn’t sure what it meant: he tried to maintain balance in all aspects of his life, but at the end of the day he knew he’d always tip towards one side if the occasion called for it.  At least when it came to personal matters.  But then, if he was making judgments based on his own outlook, was that really considered one sided or a different form of neutrality?  See this is why he thought on it as much as he did.  No matter what he rarely made an extreme decision one way or the other.

As she went over to her child he brought the cup up to his lips, lightly blowing before drinking some down, always careful of the infuser.  It was still quite hot and it was as if he felt it go all the way to his bones.  A very good feeling.  His eyes closed briefly have the full effect but opened slightly as she spoke, eyes moving over to see her standing near the young girl.  It stirred a strange feeling, negative at that, one that he pushed down as he brought the cup back from his lips.

Despite it he smiled, smaller than they had been for his time here though, “Being able to teach your child, it must be a good feeling.”  His eyes moved to the fire and then down to the screen resting in his lap, “And what about all of this?  Your forge.  What does she think of that?”

Saya's slumber marked the end of the happy go lucky atmosphere, it seemed. Once her eyes were closed and her senses shut out from the conversation, Natsumi's overtly cheery facade gave way to a more tempered reaction. She set her tea down on the nearest, flat surface; picked up her daughter's dishes and put them aside while sensing specks of negativity from her guest. Saya, herself, would soon be lifted from her seat as well, but not before Naota asked some questions that revoked Natsumi's former smile.
 
"I wish I could say I knew the truth," the caring mother responded with brutal honesty, her arms scooping Saya up into a hug. "Sometimes I think she's just saying she doesn't mind or that she's interested so that she can spare my feelings." Natsumi had more to say beyond this point, but she wanted to tuck her daughter in for a nap first. To that end, she carefully brought the child over to the tent off to the side of the fire pit. There were some wool blankets inside along with some linen sheets, and Natsumi was able to use them to wrap Saya up in a comfortable roll. The small child didn't even stir throughout the whole ordeal, leading Natsumi to believe her daughter would be asleep for a while: plenty of time during which the adults could discuss more serious matters.
 
Of course, those topics were not delved into immediately. The druid still had her own lunch to eat, so she returned to the fire where Naota was seated before grabbing that along with her tea. Nikolai exchanged places with her, going over to where Saya was to both guard her and leave the two adults alone. Then, and only then, did the young woman finally speak up again.
 
"Saya is a sweet girl," Natsumi proclaimed, "and I treat her as my daughter, but we are not of the same blood, even though we have the same fox ears and tail. I rescued her from Apoy when they were about to sacrifice her to a volcano, and her biological mother asked me to take care of her after that incident. As you can probably tell, I agreed and adopted her. But following that, she, unfortunately, fell victim to the same curse that I have suffered since I was chronologically 15."
Pausing, the woman drank her entire tea in one gulp, despite the fact that it was still fairly hot. The heat within nourished her just as much as the herbs did, due in no small part to the magic that made her worthy of the title 'Ice Queen.' Her actions, along with the fact that she could still talk plainly without a burned tongue after the event, would appear miraculous to parties without prior knowledge; but Natsumi dismissed those notions before moving on to more important matters.
 
"There are those that have tried to say I shouldn't keep a child in the wild," she stated with visible irritation at the unnamed parties. "That she belongs in the city with a traditional family rather than a single mother who is still mostly a teenager. But to quote a friend, 'Fuck 'em.' For all I care, they can shove a stick up their bum so that I can feed them to Jack like sushi popsicles before I'll let them endanger Saya for their own, selfish ideals."
 
Once again, there was a pause: this time to scarf down lunch. To say the least, the druid's appetite was voracious and also seemingly impossible for a human to consume. She ate like a chimera, downing food without much chewing or any sign of indigestion. Not to mention, she was still able to talk after swallowing the skeleton of the fish skewer she ate as if it hadn't gotten stuck in her throat at all.
 
"This forge," the fox girl continued without the slightest hint of pain, "whatever Saya may really think of it, is temporary until we can move into a better home, anyway. I've been eying properties in Wyllmochvar lately; but there have been… obstacles."
 

By obstacles, she meant people: specifically those with the name "Roderick." That envious little prick of man had been a thorn in Natsumi's side for some time, and, although he would eventually receive the fate he deserved, it was not yet time to strike. Patience is key in any blackmail scheme, as Natsumi knew, and she would not let indiscretion cost her something so important.

Children were often too kind for their own good.  He knew that in his own youth there were plenty of things that he tried his best to be interested in all for the sake of his parents, and he wondered now if they’d ever caught on.  When you loved someone you didn’t want to disappoint them, you wanted to do all that you could to make them happy, keep them happy.  Over the years he’d fallen victim to that one too many times, often with it leaving him taken advantage of…Well, people trying to at least.  One good thing about being gentle and polite was that when you give a firm ‘no’ –seemingly uncharacteristically- people tended to pay attention.

His eyes moved down to his tea, watching as small enough flakes of herbs sifted through the mesh of the infuser.  It was calming, and he needed something to concentrate on as Natsumi tended to her child.  Though his attention was brought back once she was sitting with him again, her demeanor now shifted.  His lips parted as he listened to her story and the edges of his irises shifted to crimson only briefly from the idea of throwing a child into a volcano.  Culture or not, it was still something he’d never agree with: if it had to hurt someone then it wasn’t worth doing, even if it could potentially ‘benefit’ others.  Especially if it was an innocent…

When she drank down the piping tea without so much as a blink or pause for breath his eyes widened, pulling his own cup closer to himself.  His lips parted as she ate with the haste of a person gone starving and winced slightly at the thought of so many things going without being chewed.  How did her poor throat and stomach handle it?  She didn’t seem any worse for the wear and his eyes stayed wide and focused on her.  With her next anecdote though, his eyes slowly returned to normal, though their glow dimmed and the emerald gradually dulled to a washed out gray with only hints of his natural hue.

This struck a chord…a deep one.  His eyes fell from her back into his cup, his face more still, calm but somehow making him appear older at the same time.  It was still recent enough to sting, learning about where he’d biologically come from.  He often wondered that had it not been for his sister would his parents had ever told him he was adopted.  They’d had an explanation for every single thing that was different about him, but always made sure he knew he was theirs.  For the same reasons people were now telling Natsumi she couldn’t keep her child.  His own sister had been ‘too young’, living outside ‘wasn’t safe’, being raised by a respectable noble family was ‘better for the child’.  

He’d only been three, she had been eight…there were things they were right about.  No five year old should have to care for a newborn up to age three, but while he’d been brought to the Uharus she’d been taken to a tayuu house.  It hardly seemed appropriate and there was still an untapped anger that he couldn’t properly work through towards his parents for not taking her in as well. 

He drank down more of his tea, almost finishing it off before bring it back down and looking back to her, “I agree with your friend.”  He finished off the rest of the now cooler liquid and rested the cup in his lap, “Your child is healthy, warm, well fed and just as importantly she seems to be happy and is obviously well loved.”

His fingers moved slowly around the edge of the cup, picking lightly at the lip of it as he spoke, “Blood doesn’t make your family, not always.  I can see that you already know that well though.”  His eyebrows furrowed, “What obstacles are there that you’re facing?”

Natsumi may not have recognized how strange her behavior was now that she mutated enough to consume food so rapidly, but she did spot Naota's gaping mouth out of the corner of her eye.
 
"What? I'm hungry," she said while wiping the last of the crumbs from her lips. She poured another cup of tea for herself once she placed her dirty tableware to the side, and then brought her attention back to the vampire hunter in the hours of middle afternoon. The man spoke from personal experience without revealing much factual evidence for the moment, reflecting on some painful memory that reminded him of Natsumi and Saya's situation. His agreement Jack was the most important part for a nearby ice dragon, but the response to said concurrence did not come before he finished speaking.
 
"Two points for me," the slumbering reptile said in Adeluna common once he caught wind of Naota's comment. He had been sleeping above the cave mouth for the entire duration of the man's stay, blending in perfectly with the snow of Glaciem. There was no wonder Naota hadn't noticed, because you could hardly find something that looked and smelled like snow when the entire landscape was covered in the stuff. He was Natsumi's guard for the day, just in case some unruly visitors came by.
 

"Don't worry about Jack. He won't eat you unless I tell him to," the snow fox assured Mr.Uharu. Most people who saw Jack tended to react negatively, since Boreas Dragons weren't considered symbols of sanctuary at all. Natsumi wanted to halt any potentially rash actions before they occurred, especially since she still had another question to answer and Jack pile drives typically made listening impossible. The dead could hardly hear the words of the living, after all. "I will not comment extensively on the obstacles I face, by the way. Suffice to say that I've been blackmailed and slandered throughout the city of Wyllmochvar by a particular individual, and I won't be able to move there until he and his ilk are… removed." Pausing, the woman took a sip of her tea and then finished a thought she had been having since Naota's arrival. "By the way, I don't mean to rush you, but your order will be delayed if you take much longer with that menu. I would prefer to finish it today so that I don't have a backlog in the coming week."

His lips pulled in slightly, keeping in a smile that wanted to form as he nodded.  She was hungry.  As if that was more than enough explanation for swallowing food whole.  It was amusing and the dullness of his eyes lightened up a bit.  Though they widened when there was a new voice and he looked up at the source immediately, lips slowly parting again.  Dragon.  Survival instincts didn’t leave his mind to think much further than that at first glance, but from the calm nature of Natsumi coupled with the relaxed state of the dragon himself he didn’t immediately reach for his blade.  Though his energy did spike; that was just a natural defense that he couldn’t always control…luckily it did no harm, though he’d have an abundance of it for a few hours now.  

Jack.  A name.  He looked back to her, slowly nodding as it clicked: he was a companion.  A corner of his lips pulled up in a nervous smile, “Won’t attack unless you tell him to, well…there’s that at least.”  His eyes wandered up to him once more, taking in his size, how perfectly he blended in with the snow, and how even now that he knew he was there it was hard to locate his scent.  A perfect companion for this setting…  While his heart tried to steady back down he did his best to focus on her speaking rather than the very formidable creature not even fifty feet away from them.

Blackmail, and what’s worse, blackmail of someone that had a child to care for and a business to run.  He hardly knew Natsumi, but she didn’t come off as the type of person that deserved such underhanded treatment.  The subject of blackmail usually had themselves in a sticky situation, but it was always worse when someone was taking advantage of it.  It was more the principle of the thing if he really dug down deep. “Well I won’t ask you too much on the subject then since these matters are personal, but do know that if you need my assistance you’re more than welcome to call on me…”

He returned his attention to the menu with her direction though, pulling it back up between his fingers and sifting through it as he shook his head quickly, “Forgive me, I can get distracted sometimes.”  He touched down on the materials he’d taken particular interest in and his finger hovered over one in particular before finally touching it as well.  As he held it back out to her for her to take he made sure to make note of it first, “Would it be possible to have it inlaid with black tourmaline…?” It was a hard stone, but not particularly ideal for combat.  That wasn’t why he wanted it though.  

For his type of work he was constantly tapping into holy magicks and light magicks alike: he wanted a way to use the dark natured arts that were usually directed at him, and reflect them back.  Tourmaline was the perfect stone for it: able to take dark, negative energy and not only absorb it, but release back out positivity and light.  That would come in handy, and while he wouldn’t necessarily want it in every weapon, he would want at least one to have it were that possible.   Using darkness for the sake of light…it was a practice he could get behind.  He was surrounded by it so much anyhow, he might as well learn to use it for something good.  After all, nothing was truly evil unless you gave it that intention, and he had no plans to do that.

Naota's nervousness toward Jack's presence was to be expected from any sane person. Even after he tried to calm himself, the vampire hunter's, rapid, heart beat was still audible to Natsumi. The woman was glad that he hadn't overreacted with his adrenaline, though, and especially content that he had not drawn a weapon. She hoped to maintain such civility going forward, even if she knew the number of people in the world accepting of her life style were dwindling by the minute.
 
"Understood," she responded to her companion's offer of assistance once the dialogue moved into matters of black mail. If Natsumi were being completely open at the moment, she might have also told Naota that his sister would be more useful in the current situation. She didn't really feel comfortable letting a relatively unknown stranger in on her plans to commit murder, however. That was never a smart thing to openly admit, especially to a vampire hunter whom she had only met twice.
 
Regardless, the main reason why she didn't continue on matters of assassination and black mail was because her customer had finally completed his order. She directed her attention to the light-based menu being passed to her, and then summarized the order in her head while holding it out in front of her face.
 
'Steel longsword with a black tourmaline inlay. Basic, but not sure he realizes that this blade would be utterly useless against an armored opponent.' The assessment was identical to what any smith would have thought, seeing as inlays were generally frowned upon in blacksmithing in general. She immediately began to illustrate why that was in her response to Naota's follow-up question.
 

"Inlays, in general, make weapons and armor weaker. Most generals and royalty that carry around such armaments around do so for the sole purpose of displaying their wealth and power. They would never dream of using those arms in battle, so I would advise against an inlay." Pausing, she set the menu down and took another sip of tea. "I also don't actually have any tourmaline in stock, either, so we'll have to go hunting for some if that is what you want. What I can do with the tourmaline after we find it is either leave it out of the blade and just make an ornament on the tassel of the pommel, or try to find enough black tourmaline to craft an entire blade out of it. The latter will take much longer than a day, because black tourmaline is not a common stone. It's not as rare as diamond, of course, but I'd definitely have to charge on par with the cost of a diamond sword."